Hey, CC readers, remember this car? It appeared on our Mar. 2012 cover, we dropped a supercharger on it's small-block for a YouTube video two years ago, and then it mostly just sat around waiting for us to come up with a real plan for it. The supercharger actually didn't belong to this car, nor did the small-block we installed it on, so after that video we were basically left with a rolling shell that wasn't ugly enough to be cool and needed more work than any one of us had the time to devote to fixing it. The fenders, quarter-panels, and a section of the floor need to be replaced, the suspension is a worn-out mess, and the interior looks like a superfund site awaiting the arrival of an EPA HazMat team.
Ken Maisano, owner of Mascar Modern and Classic Autobody Paint and Repair, offered to help us get the 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle roadworthy again, so we dropped it off at his shop in Costa Mesa, California, and have been dropping by to work on it on a regular basis. The specific plan is still being worked out, but the rough sketch includes a big-block Chevy and an overdrive transmission. We're seriously considering building it as a slightly more modern version of the Baldwin Motion Chevelles of the 1970s. No matter what direction we take, the job ahead of us right now is the same: strip the car down, repair and replace any damaged sheetmetal, and get it ready for a Car Craft–worthy drivetrain. We will update this car regularly until it is running under its own power again.
Step one is the logical one that many people, including us, overlook: a thorough cleaning of the car. Get rid of as much dust, dirt, grime, spider webs, and mouse turds as possible before you start. This is helpful for a number of reasons. First, you're spared the some of the indignity of debris falling on you as you work on the car, and second, and more importantly, you're eliminating a good amount of crap that can come flying out of tiny crevices when you're trying to lay down a righteous paint job. It also keeps your work area cleaner, and in a shop environment, your coworkers will really appreciate that. We thoroughly washed the Chevelle, paying careful attention to direct the hose in all the panel gaps, at the undercarriage, and even inside the frame.
Working with Mascar's John C. Straton III, we began to disassemble the Chevelle, removing the grille, lights, and front bumper. We unclipped the front wiring harness and bundled it up in a cardboard box.
The bottoms of both front fenders were completely rusted through. They rusted from the inside out, which is a sure sign of additional damage to the structures behind them. As we had anticipated, the lower sections of the cowl were rust-damaged as well. The driver side was much worse, however, due to a massive collection of leaves, dust, and dirt. The pile in the picture is only about half of the total amount of crap we removed from inside the cowl.
The remaining sheetmetal was paper-thin; we could pull it off by hand, and there was additional damage inside the cowl and on the door hinge panel. We will demonstrate how to repair this stuff in our April issue.
We used scrapers to remove loose and dried-out seam sealer. Cracks had formed that trap moisture, which will eventually rust out. We will reapply new seam sealer just prior to painting the car.
The right quarter-panel has also rusted through from the inside out, probably because of a bad seal around the back glass and decklid. We will also tackle the replacement of this panel (and the driver side if needed) in our April issue.
The trunk floor is also rusted, likely from the same water leak that damaged the quarter-panel. This may be salvageable, however, as it's not rusted through anywhere. Shown is just some of the miscellaneous items we found lurking in the gaps between the trunk floor and quarter-panels. There is also rust damage along the top edge of the trunk to the right of the striker plate.
Turning our attention to the interior, there really isn't much that is salvageable. This car is cool because it came with optional bucket seats and a console-mounted, basket-handle shift lever. The console and shifter are in decent shape, but the seats, carpet, and headliner are pretty bad. We may be able to work with the seats, but we scraped off the disintegrating headliner, rolled up the carpet, and tossed that mess straight into the dumpster. We happily said sayonara to the nasty wiring of the long-gone aftermarket speakers crudely cut into the package tray.
The floors are in pretty good shape. There is one area that has rusted through because of a water leak in the quarter-glass.
Straton vacuumed the headliner and carpet residue, and we got to work scraping the sound deadener off the floor. The next step will be to have the car thoroughly degreased. Then we will determine exactly which panels can be repaired, and which need to be replaced. We will continue to update this car regularly until it is finished, so stay tuned. End
